1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bumper spoiler which is mounted on a front bumper of a vehicle and a device for reducing air resistance of a vehicle which enhances fuel consumption (e.g. miles per gallon) of the vehicle.
2. Background Art
A conventional bumper spoiler, which will be abbreviated as xe2x80x9cspoilerxe2x80x9d in this specification hereinafter, is known, which is composed in such a manner that, for example, a belt-shaped spoiler is formed out of hard ABS resin by means of injection molding, and the thus molded spoiler is mounted on a lower end portion of a front bumper, which will be abbreviated as xe2x80x9cbumperxe2x80x9d in this specification hereinafter, with screws. Another conventional spoiler is composed as follows. On a reverse side of an upper end portion of a spoiler body section made of elastic rubber, amounting section having an embedded core bar and having a substantial U-shaped cross section is integrally provided. An elastic contact shield piece is integrally arranged on a front side of the upper end portion. This spoiler body is formed by means of extrusion into a long piece and is cut off by a predetermined length. Thus obtained spoiler body is mounted on a bumper via the mounting section so that the elastic contact shield piece can be elastically contacted with a lower surface of the bumper being directed in a forward direction of the vehicle.
In the case of the former bumper spoiler and the mounting structure thereof, since the bumper spoiler is attached to a portion relatively close to a road face and formed out of hard material, the spoiler tends to be damaged when the spoiler comes into contact with the road face or an obstacle on the road face while the vehicle is traveling.
On the other hand, in the case of the latter bumper spoiler and the mounting structure thereof, performance of mounting the spoiler on the bumper cannot be stabilized. Therefore, while the vehicle is traveling, the spoiler may be shifted from its predetermined position by vibration and air resistance acted to the spoiler.
It is an object of the present invention to propose a bumper spoiler in a device for reducing air resistance of the vehicle which has satisfactory mounting performance on the front bumper and has a characteristic to prevent damage even when a portion of the spoiler comes into contact with a road face.
The bumper spoiler and the device for reducing air resistance of a vehicle of the present invention include the following aspects in order to resolve the above-described problems.
A device for reducing air resistance of a vehicle of an aspect of the present invention comprises: a front bumper of the vehicle having a first mounting hole and second mounting hole; a bumper spoiler to be mounted on the bumper; and a mounting piece for fixing the bumper spoiler to the front bumper; wherein the bumper spoiler comprises a main body section and a mounting base section, the mounting base section protruding from a reverse side of the main body section; the main body section is made of elastic material; the mounting base section is made of rigid material harder than the main body section, the rigid material capable of being elastically deformed; the main body section and the mounting base section are integrally joined to each other; the mounting base section has a first mounting section and a second mounting section; the first mounting section is inserted into and elastically engaged with the first mounting hole, thereby being temporarily fixed to the bumper; and the second mounting section is inserted into the second mounting hole so that the second mounting section is finally fixed to the bumper by means of the mounting piece.
According to this aspect of the invention, while the first mounting section for temporarily fixing the spoiler is inserted into and elastically engaged in the first mounting hole so that the spoiler can be temporarily fixed, the spoiler can be finally fixed to the bumper by using the mounting piece. Therefore, the spoiler can be firmly fixed to the bumper. Accordingly, the spoiler cannot be shifted from a predetermined position by air resistance and vibration given to the spoiler while the vehicle is traveling. When the spoiler is used being mounted on the bumper of the vehicle, a wind colliding against the bumper from the forward portion is effectively made to flow to a rear portion, so that air resistance can be reduced while the vehicle is traveling. Accordingly, fuel consumption miles per gallon can be enhanced. Further, since the main body section of the spoiler is made of soft elastic material, it is not damaged even when a portion of the spoiler comes into contact with a road face.
According to another aspect of the invention, the front bumper has a mounting groove; and the mounting base section has a common mounting section continuously formed along the main body section, the common mounting section to be engaged with the mounting groove.
Since the common mounting section of the spoiler can be engaged in the mounting groove of the bumper all over the length, the spoiler can be stably mounted on the bumper.
According to another aspect of the invention, the first and the second mounting section are formed as residual portions which are left when a distal edge of the mounting base section are partially removed.
In this aspect of the invention, due to the existence of the common mounting section, there is no possibility that a slender portion of the mounting base section between the first and the second mounting section is unexpectedly bent. Accordingly, the long spoiler can be kept in a profile of a straight line, and the spoiler can be easily handled in the process of manufacturing and transporting, and further the spoiler can be easily mounted on the bumper.
According to another aspect of the invention, the first mounting section includes a pair of elastic pieces both mutually separated and capable of elastically deforming; each elastic piece has a tip end portion, intermediate portion and root portion; a distance between the intermediate portions of the pair of elastic pieces exceeds the size of the first mounting hole before the pair of elastic pieces are inserted into the first mounting hole; and a width of the root portion of the first mounting section is smaller than the size of the first mounting hole.
In this aspect of the invention, only when the first mounting section of the mounting base section of the spoiler is inserted into the first mounting hole of the bumper, the spoiler can be engaged in the first mounting hole of the bumper by the Snap-On action while utilizing the elasticity and elastic restoring force of the pair of elastic pieces, and the spoiler can be simply temporarily fixed to the bumper.
According to another aspect of the invention, the common mounting section include a core material; the core material is higher in rigidity and lower in thermal expansion than materials forming the mounting base section and the main body section; and the core material is integrally embedded in the common mounting section. Due to the above structure, the long spoiler can be stably kept in a straight-line profile, and expansion (thermal expansion and shrinkage) of the spoiler caused by a change in temperature can be suppressed.
According to another aspect of the invention, the mounting base section has an elastic lip rising in an obliquely forward direction; and the elastic lip is elastically deformed coming into contact with an inner wall face of the mounting groove while the bumper spoiler is mounted on the bumper. Due to the above structure, by an elastic force of the elastic lip which is going to return to the initial profile in the mounting groove of the bumper, the spoiler can be firmly mounted on the bumper without causing any rattling.
According to another aspect of the invention, the main body section includes a shield piece, the shield piece being into elastic contact with a surface of the bumper. Due to the above structure, when a vehicle is traveling, on the bumper of which the spoiler is mounted, there is no possibility that no wind is admitted to enter between the bumper surface and the spoiler. Therefore, no turbulence is caused in this portion, and the wind can be effectively made to flow to the downstream.
According to another aspect of the invention, a plurality of stripes are formed on a lower end of a front side of the main body section, the stripes formed in the width direction of the main body section. There is a possibility that a lower portion of the spoiler located on the front face of a vehicle comes into contact with a road face or a protrusion on the road face while the vehicle is traveling. Even if the spoiler comes into contact with the protrusion and scratches are caused on the spoiler, since stripes are previously formed on the spoiler in the same direction as that of the scratches, no scratches stand out from the stripes. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the decoration from deteriorating.
According to another aspect of the invention, the main body section is made of a soft thermoplastic olefin elastomer having high elasticity; the mounting base section is made of harder polypropylene resin or harder thermoplastic olefin elastomer than the main body section capable of being elastically deformed; and the main body section and the mounting base section are melted and integrated via a junction section.
In this aspect of the invention, the weight of a spoiler can be effectively reduced because specific gravity of olefin resin is lower than that of most of other resins. The resin of the main body section and that of the mounting base section composing the spoiler have the same or similar solubility parameter. Therefore, both the main body section and the mounting base section are dissolved and welded to each other, and they are not separate from each other while the spoiler is being used. Further, even when the spoiler is disused and disposed, it is possible to incinerate the spoiler, and no toxic gas is generated in the process of incineration, which is unlike the incineration of vinyl chloride resin.